Arsenal have been rocked as it has emerged that another star is set to share the sidelines with Bukayo Saka for the forseeable future, missing what is set to be the busiest time of the year.
Arsenal injuries piling up as Saka hamstring timeline revealed
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side have seen injuries hamper their season since the opening day of the campaign, and now their worst fears have been realised.
After missing captain Martin Odegaard for a month of the Premier League between international breaks, Saka will now also be absent over the festive period and beyond.
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The Arsenal talisman went down in the first half of their 5-1 win over Crystal Palace with no one near him, and had to be replaced by Leandro Trossard, going straight down the tunnel. Now, Mikel Arteta has revealed the extent of the issue, admitting that his star man will miss “many weeks” with the hamstring issue.
“It’s not looking good. He’s going to be out for many weeks”, the Gunners boss epxlained. “It’s a huge blow, but it’s going to be a big exercise for us to overcome another challenge”.
Saka has been vital to Arsenal’s revival in recent years, with the 23-year-old having managed five goals and 10 assists already this season, more than any other player in north London.
Now, the Gunners will need to look elsewhere for answers, with Gabriel Jesus a potential replacement for the winger, while Gabriel Martinelli filled in for the remainder of the clash against the Eagles. Quizzed on the situation, Arteta suggested as many as four of his players could fill in.
“Gabi [Martinelli] has played there, Ethan [Nwaneri] has played there, Leo [Trossard] can play there in relation to how the unit moves. Kai [Havertz] can play there. We will talk to them and understand how they feel about it.”
In yet more bad news for the Gunners, though, another star has been ruled out for almost the same amount of time as Saka.
Another Arsenal star sidelined with knee injury
That comes as loanee forward Raheem Sterling has also picked up an injury and will be sidelined for weeks. The England international arrived from Chelsea over the summer, but has struggled for game time in north London.
With Saka now injured, it would have been a perfect opportunity for the forward to step up, but he was absent from the squad against Crystal Palace and Arteta has now revealed that is because he too has been injured. Asked about the 30-year-old, the Gunners boss confirmed that, like Saka, he will be out for “weeks”.
“He’s gonna be out for weeks. He needs further testing tomorrow to understand the extent of his injury. It’s his knee.”
Arsenal’s current injury list | ||
|---|---|---|
Player | Injury | Likely return |
Bukayo Saka | Hamstring | February |
Raheem Sterling | Knee | February |
Oleksandr Zinchenko | Unknown | December |
Takehiro Tomiyasu | Knee | Unknown |
Ben White | Knee | March |
It continues Arsenal’s misfortune with injuries, which has seen all of Gabriel, Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori miss games in recent weeks, and now threatens to all but end their push for the Premier League title. With January around the corner, they may be forced to dip into the transfer window for a replacement.
